The U.S. Department Of Transportation (DOT) and 18 automakers are taking a strong stand for a new proactive, collaborative approach to safety. The parties have agreed on a set of actions to help make roads safer and help avoid the sort of safety crisis that generates the wrong kind of record-setting and headlines.

The commitments will help catch safety defects before they explode into massive recalls. They will help improve the quality of data that automakers and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) analyze to identify defects today, and they will find ways to generate better data in the future.

Additionally, today's actions strengthen the industry's efforts to protect vehicle owners from cybersecurity risks. The performance today's vehicles achieve is due in large part to an increasing amount of computer hardware and software under the hood and behind the dashboard. The U.S. authorities and the automakers have agreed to work collaboratively to mitigate cyber threats that could pose safety risks.

Yesterday, DOT also announced efforts in 2016 to support the safe deployment of autonomous vehicles that carmakers have been developing. And that includes President Obama's proposal to invest $4 billion in pilot programs.